TWI829548B - Controllable bending tube and endoscope device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A controllable bending tube is applied to an endoscope device having an endoscope lens module disposed on an end of the controllable bending tube and includes a first wire, a second wire, and a plurality of helical coil portions connected in series to integrally form a helical tube body with a helical pitch. A first retaining slot and a second retaining slot are formed at first sides and second sides of at least two of the plurality of helical coil portions respectively, and two first nodes protrudes axially at third sides and fourth sides of the at least two of the plurality of helical coil portions respectively. The first and second wires are movably disposed through the first and second retaining slots for controlling a bending direction of the helical tube body.

Description

Controllable bending tube and endoscope device

The present invention relates to a controllable bending tube and an endoscopic device thereof, in particular to a controllable bending tube with an integrally formed spiral tube body and an endoscopic device thereof.

The endoscope device is a slender and flexible flexible tube device. It mainly includes an image capture device, a light source and a controllable bending tube. After the endoscope device is electrically connected to the screen, the internal organs of the human body can be viewed internally. The image captured by the endoscopic device is displayed on the screen, so the endoscopic device can be applied to medical testing and diagnosis. Generally speaking, endoscopic devices use a control cam and a control wire. The two wires are connected to the cam and threaded in a controllable bending tube. Therefore, the rotation of the control cam can apply tension to one of the wires and release it at the same time. Another wire is used to control the bending direction of the front end of the endoscopic device (for example, bending the endoscopic device upward or downward) for subsequent medical testing.

However, since the above-mentioned wires and the controllable bending tube are both small-sized components, it is often impossible to thread the wires smoothly and quickly into the controllable bending tube, resulting in a time-consuming and labor-intensive wire threading process. In addition, the controllable bending tube of the endoscopic device usually adopts a complicated assembly and disassembly design of separate pipe parts to produce a bendable effect of the tube, which increases the manufacturing cost of the endoscopic device and increases the risk of breakage of the controllable bending tube.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a controllable bending tube with an integrally formed spiral tube body and an endoscope device thereof to solve the above problems.

According to one embodiment, the controllable bending tube of the present invention is suitable for an endoscopic device, and the endoscopic device An endoscopic lens module of the mirror device is disposed at one end of the controllable bending tube. The controllable bending tube includes a plurality of spiral tube parts, a first wire, and a second wire. The plurality of spiral tube parts are connected in series with each other to integrally form a spiral tube body. A spiral groove is formed on the spiral tube body along an axial direction of the spiral tube body and has a spiral pitch. Each spiral tube The portion has a first side and a second side opposite to each other and has a third side and a fourth side located between the first side and the second side and opposite to each other, and at least one of the plurality of spiral tube parts The first side and the second side are respectively formed with a first limiting groove and a second limiting groove, and two first nodes are respectively formed from at least two of the plurality of spiral tube parts along the axial direction. The third side and the fourth side are protrudingly formed. The first wire can be movably passed through the first limiting slot. The second wire is movably inserted into the second limiting groove to jointly control the bending direction of the spiral tube body with the first wire.

According to another embodiment, the endoscopic device of the present invention includes the controllable bending tube, a control device, and an endoscopic lens module. The control device is connected to the first wire and the second wire, and is used to jointly control the bending direction of the spiral tube body with the first wire and the second wire. The endoscopic lens module is disposed at one end of the controllable bending tube.

In summary, the present invention adopts an integrated spiral tube body design to replace the complex and separate assembly and disassembly designs of tube parts mentioned in the prior art, thereby simplifying the tube body design of the endoscope device and improving the structural flexibility of the controllable bending tube. , thereby significantly reducing the manufacturing cost of the endoscopic device and reducing the risk of breakage of the controllable bending tube. In addition, compared with the threading design used in the prior art, the present invention adopts an external limiting groove design to allow the first wire and the second wire to be smoothly and quickly assembled into the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove located on both sides of the spiral tube body. in the limit slot. In this way, the present invention can effectively solve the problem of the time-consuming wire threading process caused by the threading design mentioned in the prior art, thereby improving the convenience of wire assembly and reducing the wire assembly time.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood through the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

10. 200: Endoscope device

12, 100, 202, 300: Controllable bending tube

14. 204: Control device

16:Inner view lens module

18, 206: Spiral tube part

20:First wire

22:Second wire

24, 212: Spiral tube body

26:Spiral groove

28:First limit slot

30: Second limit slot

32, 102: first node

33: Notch

34:Film casing

36:Signal transmission components

208:Third wire

210: The fourth wire

216:Third limit slot

218:Fourth limit slot

220, 302: Second node

A:Axis

P: spiral pitch

S1: first side

S2: Second side

S3: Third side

S4: The fourth side

D1: Towards the right

D2:Towards the left

r: circumferential range

R:radial

C: tangent plane

Figure 1 is a partial internal schematic diagram of an endoscope device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the endoscope device in Figure 1 along the section line I-I.

Figure 3 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the controllable bending tube in Figure 1 from another perspective.

Figure 4 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of a controllable bending tube according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a partial side view of an endoscope device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of a controllable bending tube according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a partial internal schematic diagram of an endoscope device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a cross-section of the endoscope device 10 in Figure 1. Partial cross-sectional view of line I-I. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the endoscope device 10 includes a controllable bending tube 12, a control device 14, and an endoscopic lens module 16. The controllable bending tube 12 includes a plurality of spiral tube parts 18. , a first wire 20 , and a second wire 22 . A plurality of spiral tube parts 18 are connected in series with each other to integrally form a spiral tube body 24, and a spiral groove 26 is formed on the spiral tube body 24 along an axial direction A of the spiral tube body 24 and has a spiral pitch. P, where the spiral extending direction of the spiral groove 26 is not perpendicular to the axial direction A of the spiral tube body 24 (as shown in Figure 2). In this embodiment, the spiral tube body 24 may preferably be made of metal (such as stainless steel, copper, aluminum or memory alloy) and formed through a laser cutting process, but is not limited thereto. That is, the spiral tube The body 24 can also adopt other tube body molding processes. For example, the spiral tube body 24 can be composed of plastic materials (such as polypropylene (PP) or polyoxymethylene (POM), etc.) and formed through a plastic injection molding process. form.

The endoscopic lens module 16 is disposed at one end of the controllable bending tube 12, and the control device 14 (preferably a rotating cam mechanism as shown in Figure 1, but not limited to this) is connected to the first wire 20 and the second wire 22, the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 are movably threaded on both sides of the spiral tube body 24 and It is preferably fixed to this end of the controllable bending tube 12. In this way, the rotation of the control device 14 can apply tension to one of the wires and release the other wire, thereby controlling the bending direction of the endoscopic device 10, thereby controlling the endoscopic lens module 16 to perform endoscopic imaging (for example, Imaging of internal organs of the human body) for subsequent medical testing and diagnosis. For example, the clockwise rotation of the control device 14 as shown in FIG. 1 can apply tension to the first wire 20 and release the second wire 22 to control the endoscope device 10 to move to the right relative to the axial direction A. The direction D1 is bent, and the counterclockwise rotation of the control device 14 can apply tension to the second wire 22 and release the first wire 20 to control the endoscope device 10 to bend in the left direction D2 relative to the axial direction A. As for the related descriptions of the wire control design of the control device 14 and the imaging design of the endoscopic lens module 16, they are common in the prior art and will not be described again here. It should be noted that the wire fixing design of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the present invention can use the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 to be fixed to the endoscopic lens module. 16 to replace the design fixed to the controllable bending tube 12. As for which design is adopted, it depends on the actual application of the present invention.

The following is a detailed description of the spiral structure design of the controllable bending tube 12. Please refer to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 3 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the controllable bending tube 12 in Figure 1 from another perspective, such as As shown in Figures 2 and 3, each spiral tube portion 18 has a first side S1 and a second side S2 that are opposite to each other, and has an opposite side that is between the first side S1 and the second side S2. The third side S3 and a fourth side S4, in which the central angle corresponding to the spiral tube portion 18 relative to the axial direction A of the spiral tube body 24 can preferably be equal to 360° (as shown in Figure 3, but not limited to This limit). The first side S1 and the second side S2 of at least two of the plurality of spiral tube parts 18 are respectively formed with a first limiting groove 28 and a second limiting groove 30, and the two first nodes 32 are along the axial direction A. They are respectively formed by protruding from the third side S3 and the fourth side S4 of the above-mentioned at least two spiral tube parts 18 . In this embodiment, preferably, the first side S1 and the second side S2 of each spiral tube portion 18 may be respectively formed with a first limiting groove 28 and a second limiting groove 30 and each spiral tube portion The third side S3 and the fourth side S4 of 18 may each have a protruding first node 32 (but not limited to this), whereby the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 can be movably threaded through respectively. in the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30, so that The user can smoothly and quickly complete the wire assembly process of the endoscope device 10 .

In more detail, in this embodiment, the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30 can be preferably formed in a circumferential range r of the spiral tube body 24 (shown with a dotted line in Figure 3 ) to prevent the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30 from protruding outside the spiral tube body 24 and achieve the effect of reducing the overall volume of the spiral tube body 24. In addition, the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30 may each have a tangent plane C perpendicular to the radial direction R of the spiral tube body 24 for guiding the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 to be more precise. It is smoothly assembled into the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30 .

In addition, the present invention can further adopt a groove limiting design to prevent the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 from accidentally sliding out of the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30 when driven by rotation of the control device 14 . For example, in this embodiment, the opening direction of the first limiting groove 28 can be preferably perpendicular to the radial direction R of the spiral tube body 24 (as shown in Figure 3, the opening is downward), and the first limiting groove 28 is open in a downward direction. The opening direction of the limiting groove 28 is preferably opposite to the opening direction of the second limiting groove 30 (as shown in Figure 3, the opening is upward). In another embodiment, the opening direction of at least one first limiting groove 28 and the opening direction of at least one adjacent first limiting groove 28 can be opposite to each other, so as to firmly limit the first wire 20 in the first position. in a limiting groove 28. As for what kind of groove limit design is adopted, it depends on the actual application of the endoscope device 10 .

In addition, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the two first nodes 32 of the spiral tube portion 18 can protrude toward the control device 14 along the axial direction A of the spiral tube body 24, whereby when the control device 14 When the rotation drives the controllable bending tube 12 to bend through the first wire 20 and the second wire 22, the spiral pitch P can be correspondingly reduced so that the two first nodes 32 can detachably abut another adjacent spiral. The tube part 18 is used to provide a support point and a bending fulcrum between two adjacent spiral tube parts 18, thereby effectively reducing the risk of the spiral tube body 24 breaking. In addition, in this embodiment, the other adjacent spiral tube portion 18 may have two notches 33 respectively formed thereon to detachably engage with the two first nodes 32 to provide more stable support. . It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 3 , the first node 32 located on the third side S3 can be staggered from the first node 32 located on the fourth side S4 in the axial direction A of the spiral tube body 24 to avoid stress. focus the problem, thereby further reducing the The risk of the spiral tube body 24 breaking.

In practical applications, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the endoscope device 10 may further include a film sleeve 34 (only partially shown in Figure 1 to expose the controllable bending tube 12). The film sleeve Series 34 can be mounted on the inner lens module 16 and the controllable bending tube 12 for external protection. In addition, the endoscope device 10 can further include a signal transmission element 36. The signal transmission element 36 can be inserted into the controllable bending tube 12 and electrically connected to the endoscopic lens module 16 for signal transmission. The relevant description of the signal transmission circuit design of the endoscope device 10 is common in the prior art and will not be described again here.

In summary, the present invention adopts an integrated spiral tube body design to replace the complex and separate assembly and disassembly designs of tube parts mentioned in the prior art, thereby simplifying the tube body design of the endoscope device 10 and improving the controllable bending tube 12 The structural flexibility greatly reduces the manufacturing cost of the endoscope device 10 and reduces the risk of breakage of the controllable bending tube 12 . In addition, compared with the threading design used in the prior art, the present invention adopts an external limiting groove design to allow the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 to be smoothly and quickly assembled into the first limiting grooves located on both sides of the spiral tube body 24 28 and the second limiting groove 30. In this way, the present invention can effectively solve the problem of the time-consuming wire threading process caused by the threading design mentioned in the prior art, thereby improving the convenience of wire assembly and reducing the wire assembly time.

It is worth mentioning that the present invention can also adopt a node connection design. For example, please refer to Figure 4, which is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of a controllable bending tube 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Here Components mentioned in the embodiments with the same numbers as those in the above-mentioned embodiments have the same numbers, which means that they have the same or similar structures and functions. The relevant descriptions can be derived by analogy with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, and will not be described again here. As shown in FIG. 4 , the controllable bending tube 100 may include a plurality of spiral tube parts 18 , first wires 20 , and second wires 22 . Each spiral tube part 18 is connected in series to form a spiral tube body 24 in one piece. It has two first nodes 102 . The first nodes 102 protrude along the axial direction A of the spiral tube body 24 and are connected to another adjacent spiral tube portion 18 to further enhance the structural strength of the controllable bending tube 100 . As for other related descriptions of the controllable bending tube 100 (such as wire fixation design, external groove design, groove limit design, etc.), please refer to Figure 3 The embodiments shown are analogous and will not be described again here.

In addition, the present invention can also adopt a four-wire control design. For example, please refer to FIG. 5 , which is a partial side view of an endoscope device 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Here, Components mentioned in the embodiments with the same numbers as those in the above-mentioned embodiments have the same numbers, which means that they have the same or similar structures and functions. The relevant descriptions can be derived by analogy with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, and will not be described again here. In order to clearly show the structural design of a controllable bending tube 202, the inner lens module 16, the film tube 34 and the signal transmission element 36 are omitted in Figure 5, and the first wire 20, the second wire 22 , a third wire 208, and a fourth wire 210 are simply represented by dotted lines in Figure 5 .

As shown in Figure 5, the endoscope device 200 includes a controllable bending tube 202, at least one control device (such as the two control devices 14 and 204 shown in Figure 5, but not limited thereto), an endoscopic lens module 16. The film sleeve 34 and the signal transmission element 36. The controllable bending tube 202 includes a plurality of spiral tube parts 206, the first wire 20, the second wire 22, the third wire 208, and the fourth wire 210. A plurality of spiral tube parts 206 are connected in series to form a spiral tube body 212 in one piece, and the spiral groove 26 is formed on the spiral tube body 212 along the axial direction A.

In this embodiment, one of any two adjacent spiral tube portions 206 may have a first limiting groove 28 and a second limiting groove 30 (second limiting groove 30) formed on the first side S1 and the second side S2 respectively. The slot 30 is not shown in Figure 5) and has two first nodes 32 protrudingly formed on the third side S3 and the fourth side S4 respectively along the axial direction A (preferably protruding toward the control device 14, but not subject to this limitation). In addition, the other one of any two adjacent spiral tube portions 206 may have a third limiting groove 216 and a fourth limiting groove 218 respectively formed on the third side S3 and the fourth side S4 and have respective edges along the third side S3 and the fourth side S4. Two second nodes 220 are formed on the first side S1 and the second side S2 protruding in the axial direction A (preferably protruding toward the control device 14 , but are not limited thereto). The first wire 20 and the second wire 22 are movably inserted into the first limiting groove 28 and the second limiting groove 30 respectively. The control device 14 is connected to the first wire 20 and the second wire 22. The third The wire 208 and the fourth wire 210 are movably inserted into the third limiting groove 216 and the fourth limiting groove 218 respectively, and the control device 204 is connected to the third wire 208 and the fourth wire 210.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 5 , the rotation of the control device 14 can drive the endoscope device 200 to bend right or left relative to the axial direction A through the first wire 20 and the second wire 22 . During the rotation of 14, the two first nodes 32 detachably abut another adjacent spiral tube portion 206 to provide a support point and a bending fulcrum between the two adjacent spiral tube portions 206, thereby effectively reducing the spiral tube portion 206. Risk of tube body 212 breaking. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5 , the rotation system of the control device 204 can drive the endoscope device 200 to bend upward or downward relative to the axial direction A through the third wire 208 and the fourth wire 210 . During the rotation process, the two second nodes 220 can detachably contact another adjacent spiral tube portion 206 to provide a support point and a bending fulcrum between the two adjacent spiral tube portions 206, thereby effectively lowering the spiral tube body. 212 Risk of breakage. In summary, through the four-wire control design as shown in Figure 5, the endoscope device 200 can have a four-way bending function through the rotation control of the control devices 14 and 204, thereby improving the operation of the endoscope device 200 Flexibility. As for other related descriptions of the endoscope device 200 (such as wire fixation design, tube body molding design, external groove design, groove limit design, notch design, etc.), please refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 3 The analogy will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the aforementioned node connection design can also be applied to the above embodiments. For example, please refer to Figure 6 , which is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of a controllable bending tube 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention. , the components mentioned in this embodiment and the above-mentioned embodiments have the same numbers, which means that they have the same or similar structures and functions. The relevant descriptions can be derived by analogy with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, and will not be repeated here. In order to clearly show the tube body design of the controllable bending tube 300, the first wire 20, the second wire 22, the third wire 208, and the fourth wire 210 are omitted in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6, the controllable bending tube 300 includes a plurality of spiral tube parts 206, a first wire 20, a second wire 22, a third wire 208, and a fourth wire 210. The plurality of spiral tube parts 206 are connected in series with each other. The spiral tube body 212 is formed in one piece. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6 , two first nodes 102 can be respectively formed on the third side S3 and the fourth side S4 of the spiral tube portion 206 to connect to the adjacent spiral tube portion 206 , and the second node 102 can be formed on the third side S3 and the fourth side S4 of the spiral tube portion 206 respectively. Two nodes 302 (located on the second side S2 The second nodes 302 (not shown in Figure 6) can be respectively formed on the first side S1 and the second side S2 of the adjacent spiral tube portion 206 to connect to another adjacent spiral tube portion 206, thereby further Improve the structural strength of the controllable bending tube 300. As for other related descriptions of the controllable bending tube 300 (such as wire fixation design, external groove design, groove limiting design, etc.), they can be derived by referring to the embodiment shown in Figure 3 and will not be described again here.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the patentable scope of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

12: Controllable bending tube

18: Spiral tube part

20:First wire

22:Second wire

24: Spiral tube body

26:Spiral groove

28:First limit slot

30: Second limit slot

32: first node

33: Notch

A:Axis

P: spiral pitch

S1: first side

S2: Second side

S3: Third side

S4: The fourth side

r: circumferential range

R:radial

C: tangent plane

Claims (16)

A controllable bending tube, which is suitable for an endoscope device. An endoscopic lens module of the endoscope device is provided at one end of the controllable bending tube. The controllable bending tube includes: a plurality of spiral tube parts, They are connected in series with each other to integrally form a spiral tube body. A spiral groove is formed on the spiral tube body along an axial direction of the spiral tube body and has a spiral pitch. Each spiral tube portion has an angle opposite to each other. a first side and a second side and a third side and a fourth side located between the first side and the second side and opposite to each other, and the third side of at least two of the plurality of spiral tube parts One side and the second side are respectively formed with a first limiting groove and a second limiting groove. Two first nodes are integrally formed on the spiral tube body and are respectively formed from the plurality of spiral tube parts along the axial direction. At least two of the third side and the fourth side are protrudingly formed; a first wire movably passed through the first limiting groove; and a second wire movably passed through the second limiting groove. The limiting groove is used together with the first wire to control a bending direction of the spiral tube body. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein the opening direction of the first limiting groove and the opening direction of the adjacent first limiting groove are opposite to each other. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove are formed within a circumferential range of the spiral tube body, the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove The grooves each have a tangent plane perpendicular to one of the radial directions of the spiral tube body. The controllable bending tube as claimed in claim 1, wherein an opening direction of the first limiting groove is perpendicular to a radial direction of the spiral tube body. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein the two first nodes are protrudingly formed to detachably abut the adjacent spiral tube portion. The controllable bending tube of claim 5, wherein two notches are formed in the adjacent spiral tube portion to detachably engage with the two first nodes. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein the two first nodes are protrudingly formed to connect to adjacent spiral tube parts. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein the first node located on the third side and the first node located on the fourth side are staggered from each other in the axial direction of the spiral tube body. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein the spiral tube body is made of metal and formed by a laser cutting process, or by a plastic injection molding process. The controllable bending tube of claim 1, wherein one of any two adjacent spiral tube parts has the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove respectively formed on the first side and the second side. The groove has the two first nodes protrudingly formed on the third side and the fourth side respectively along the axial direction, and the other one of any two adjacent spiral tube parts has a groove formed on the third side respectively. And a third limiting groove and a fourth limiting groove on the fourth side and have two second nodes protruding from the first side and the second side respectively along the axial direction, the two second nodes Integrated into the spiral tube body; the controllable bending tube further includes: a third wire movably threaded through the third limiting groove; and a fourth wire movably threaded through the fourth limiting groove. Limiting groove to connect with the first wire and the second The wire and the third wire jointly control the bending direction of the spiral tube body. The controllable bending tube of claim 10, wherein the two first nodes are detachably abutted against the other of any two adjacent spiral tube parts. The controllable bending tube of claim 10, wherein the two first nodes are connected to the other of any two adjacent spiral tube parts. The controllable bending tube of claim 10, wherein the first node located on the third side and the first node located on the fourth side are staggered from each other in the axial direction of the spiral tube body. The controllable bending tube of claim 10, wherein the spiral tube body is made of metal and formed by a laser cutting process, or by a plastic injection molding process. An endoscopic device, which includes: a controllable bending tube as described in claim 1; a control device connected to the first wire and the second wire for communicating with the first wire and the second wire jointly control the bending direction of the spiral tube body; and an internal viewing lens module, which is disposed at one end of the controllable bending tube. The endoscopic device according to claim 15, further comprising: a film sleeve that is sleeved on the endoscopic lens module and the controllable bending tube.

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